The cryptocurrency industry faced one of its largest security breaches this year as a hacker made off with $63 million from a blockchain-based game.
Munchables, the game in question, acknowledged the incident in a statement on Wednesday, vowing to halt transactions in response. Blockchain experts at PeckShield estimated that the hacker pilfered 17,400 Ether tokens, valued at approximately $63 million based on current prices, supported by public crypto transaction data.
However, the exploiter seemingly had a change of heart and returned the stolen funds in full later that same day, as evidenced by blockchain records. Munchables assured users of the safety of their funds in a subsequent statement, noting that the hacker did not impose any conditions.
Built on Blast, a Layer 2 solution promising more efficient transactions compared to traditional blockchains, Munchables operates akin to an airline loyalty points system.
Tieshun Roquerre, known as Pacman, the founder of Blast, commended the extraordinary effort required to secure Munchables’ funds following the exploit. He further highlighted that the former Munchables developer chose to return the funds without any ransom demands.
In Munchables, players nurture bug-eyed digital creatures to earn rewards. Earlier this week, the project reported that the total value of crypto tokens within its protocol had surpassed $80 million.
While security breaches remain a concern, the digital asset industry saw a decrease in losses last year, totaling about $1.8 billion, according to Immunefi, a platform offering rewards to researchers for identifying security vulnerabilities in crypto software.
